Sony execs hang heads in shame over Playstation Network breach

Almost two weeks after the initial intrusion at their San Diego data center, Sony’s President CEO and Senior VPs issued an official apology from a press conference at their Tokyo headquarters. Bowing deeply in shame, they promised new software updates and offered “Welcome Back” programs for user compensation.

Sony has been roundly criticized for holding information on the breach for a week, waiting until after their tablet computer launch to release an official statement. They claim they needed time to determine what exactly had been compromised and who was responsible. While the answer probably leans closer to PR posturing, their pleas of ignorance in regards to the culprit seem legitimate. They’ve since asked the FBI for assistance with investigating what they call a “criminal cyber attack.” Of the 77 million customers compromised, less than 9 million reside in Japan; almost half are in the Americas.

Because they can’t ascertain exactly what (if anything) was stolen, Sony has no idea if their customers were also targeted, merely collateral damage or neither. Even though they know that data from 10 million credit cards were compromised in addition to the 77 million names, home and email addresses, the motivation for the attack has not been revealed. The only thing that is certain is that the hacker responsible is extremely talented, nefarious and brazen (probably a little too much of all three), and that Sony was completely unprepared for such an intrusion.